Objective To investigate the mRNA expression of β‐catenin and PTEN in hepatocellular carcinoma exposed to hepa‐titis B virus(HBV) and aflatoxin B1(AFB1) .Methods 108 HCCs came from different districts of Guangxi province were labeled as four categories based on their biomarkers of HBV and AFB1 exposure .Group A :HBV(+ )/AFB1(+ ) ,48 cases ,group B :HBV (+ )/AFB1(-) ,27 cases ,group C :HBV(-)/AFB1(+ ) ,19 cases ,group D :HBV(-)/AFB1(-) ,14 cases .And normal hepatic tissue from 20 cases of hepatic hemangioma ,liver resection and liver transplant donor were chosen as normal control group .And the mRNA expression of β‐catenin and PTEN were detected by RT‐PCR .Results The mean expression level of β‐catenin gene mRNA in group A ,B ,C ,D and control group were(1 .13 ± 0 .14) ,(1 .06 ± 0 .12) ,(1 .16 ± 0 .18) ,(1 .01 ± 0 .13) and(0 .085 ± 0 .13) respec‐tively .There were significant differences between group A and C ,A and D .And there were significant differences between these four groups and control group(all P<0 .05) .The mean expression level of PTEN gene mRNA in four subgroup A ,B ,C ,D and con‐trol group were(0 .54 ± 0 .13) ,(0 .59 ± 0 .16) ,(0 .97 ± 0 .16) ,(0 .92 ± 0 .13) and(1 .10 ± 0 .16) respectively .There were significant differences between group A and D ,C and D .And there were significant differences between group A and C (P=0 .002) ,A and D(P=0 .032) ,B and C(P<0 .001) and B and D(P=0 .011) .And there were significant differences between subgroup A ,B and D and control group(all P<0 .05) .Conclusion The over expression β‐catenin of HCC cases may be associated with the exposure to AFB1 while the loss of gene PTEN may relate to the exposure to HBV .

ObjectiveTo study the chromosome genetic changes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with double exposure to hepatitis B virus/aflatoxin B1 (HBV/AFB1) in Guangxi.Method Differences in genomic alterations in 32 patients with HCC were analyzed using comparative genomic hybridization(CGH).Results(1) The majority of chromosome copy number in the 32 HCC samples had varying degrees of change.The amplification of chromosome regions were 1q,7q,8q,with the high frequency regions being 1q,8q.The deletion of chromosome regions were 1p,4q,8p,9p,13q,14q,16p,16q,17p,18q,19p,Y,with the high frequency regions being 1p,4q,8p,16q,17p,19p;(2) There were also some high copy number amplification or deletion of small regions,such as 2p25.1-p25.2,3q22.3-q23,7p14.1-p14.3,and 9p13.2-9p21; (3) Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that the rate of deletion of chromosome 13q decreased progressively in the following 4 groups:-HBsAg(+)/AFB1 (+),HBsAg(+)/AFB1 (-),HBsAg( - )/AFB1 ( + ),and HBsAg( - )/AFB1 (-) (x2=6.452,P＜0.05).4p was found mainly to be amplified in the HBsAg(+)/AFB1(-)group,but it was mainly deleted in the HBsAg(-)/AFB1(+),and HBsAg( - )/AFB1(-) groups.19q was found mainly to be amplified in the HBsAg(+)/AFB1(+) group,but it was mainly deleted in the HBsAg(-)/AFB1(+),and HBsAg(-)/AFB1(-) groups.ConclusionThe chromosome genetic changes of HCC in Guangxi showed multiplicity.The deletion of chromosome 19p,2p25.1-25.2,3q22.3-q23,7p14.1-p14.3 and amplification of chromosome 9p13.2-9p21 are probably unique genetic characteristics of HCC in this region.The combined effects of Hepatitis B virus and aflatoxin B1 may contribute to deletion of chromosome 13q of HCC in Guangxi.

Objective To detect the existence of vasculogenic mimicry in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods In this study 42 patients with a total of 47 HCC nodules underwent radical resection.Histological and immunohistochemical double staining of CD31 and PAS were applied to observe the existence of vasculogenic mimicry ( VM ). Reverse tanscription PCR (RT-PCR) were applied to study the expression of VE-cadherin, EPHA2 and MMP-2 genes. Results VM was found in 16 of the 42 (38. 1% )HCC cases. The typical forms of VM in the microscope are vessel-like structure formed by tumor cells,without endothelial cells and the PAS-positive looping pattern. The existence of VM in HCC correlates to a higher Edmondson grade, higher capacity of intrahepatic disseminating and poorer tumor-free survival time (P＜ 0. 05). Comparing the difference of VE-cadherin gene, EPHA2 gene and MMP-2 gene expression between VM positive nodes and in VM negative nodes by RT-PCR method demonstrated that VE-cadherin gene, EPHA2 gene and MMP-2 gene have a more intense expression in VM positive nodes than in VM negative nodes ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). Conclusion VM exists in human hepatocellular carcinoma. VM occurred more frequently in higher malignant HCC and predicts a higher rate of tumor recurrence and poorer prognosis.

Objective To explore the effects and the molecular mechanism of synergistic hepatocarcinogenesis of HBV and AFB1 in the development of HCC by studying the difference in protein expression profiles in hepatocellular carcinoma exposed to hepatitis B virus and Aflatoxin B1.Method 32 HCC specimens were labeled under four categories based on their biomarkers of HBV and AFB1 exposure:group A:HBV(+)/AFB1 (+),10 cases,group B:HBV(+)/AFB1 (-),10 cases,group C:HBV(-)/AFB1(+),6 cases,groupD:HBV(-)/AFB1(-),6 cases.Normal hepatic tissues from 10 cases of hepatic hemangioma,liver resection and liver transplant donor were chosen as the normal control group.Isobaric Tagging Reagent Quantitative (iTRAQ) Proteomics together with 2DLC MS/MS were applied to analyze the differentially expressed proteins among the 4 groups.Result (1) A total of 117 unique differentially expressed proteins including 53 up-regulated proteins and 64 down-regulated proteins were identified in the four groups.The number of unique differentially expressed proteins,including up-regulated and down-regulated proteins,in group A,group B,group C and group D were 106,97,104 and 74 respectively.(2) Among the 117 differentially expressed proteins,9 proteins were heat shock proteins or chaperones,and they were up regulated in group A,B and C.Besides,15 proteins were detoxification and drug metabolism pathway related proteins,12 of them were down-regulated in group A,and more than half of them were also down-regulated in group B and C.(3) The Reverse Transcriptase PCR result showed the mean expression level of AKR1B10 mRNA in group A was significantly higher than group B,C and D (all P＜0.05,respectively).Group C also showed significantly a higher expression level of AKR1B10 mRNA than group D (P＜0.05).The Western-blot results showed the mean expression level of AKR1B10 protein in group A was significantly higher than group B and D (all P＜0.05,respectively).Conclusions The up-regulated expression of heat shock protein and the down-regulated expression of most protein enzymes related to detoxification and drug metabolism were the common molecular biological events of HCC associated with exposure to HBV and AFB1.This suggested the synergistic hepatocarcinogenesis effects of HBV and AFB1 may be related to dysregulation of protein enzymes related to detoxification and drug metabolism.The overexpression of AKR1B10 may be involved in the AFB1-related hepatocarcinogenesis process.

Objective To study hepatic blood flow exclusion for the resection of liver tumors involving hepatic hilar region. Methods The clinical data of 16 cases of liver tumors involving hepatic hilar region from January 2005 to March 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. Liver tumors were resected by the technique combining hepatic portal control ( Pringle's maneuver) and normothermie total hepatic vascular exclusion (NHVE). The relation of liver tumors to major vessels, episodes and durations of hepatic blood flow exclusion, intraoperative blood loss and blood transfusion, postoperative complications were analyzed. Results The technique combining Pringle's maneuver and NHVE was used in 16 cases. The mean episodes and durations of Pringle's maneuver were (3.8±1.6) min and (46.6±28.8) min, respectively. The mean episodes and durations of NHVE were (1.6±0.4) min and (23.5±8.2) min, respectively. The mean amount of intraoperativ blood loss was (1250±320) ml, blood transfusion (860±245) ml. Major hepatic vessel injuried were repaired intraoperatively including inferior vena cave in 4 cases, main hepatic veins in 2 cases and portal veins in 2 cases. The serum alanine transaminase(ALT) and bilirubin raised in different degrees after operation, and recovered gradually to normal level. There was no postoperative mortality and serious postoperative complications. Conclusions Alternative use of hepatic blood flow exclusion combining Pringle maneuver and NHVE reduces the time of total hepatic vascular exclusion, improves safety for resection of liver tumors involving hepatic hilar region.

Objective:To establish a nomogram model for predicting the hyper-progression recurrence after hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on circulating tumor cells (CTC).Methods:Clinical data of 231 HCC patients undergoing hepatectomy at the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital from January 2013 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 200 males and 31 females, aged 46(39, 52) years old. Patients were divided into two groups: the modeling group ( n=154) and the validation group ( n=77). According to the state of postoperative hyper-progression recurrence, patients in the modeling group were subdivided into hyper-progression recurrence ( n=39) and non-hyper-progression recurrence group ( n=115). Patients in the validation group were also subdivided into hyper-progression recurrence ( n=16) and non-hyper-progression recurrence group ( n=61). Clinicopathological data such as the total CTC count, alpha-fetoprotein, and postoperative pathology were collected. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of postoperative hyper-progression recurrence. A nomogram model was established based on the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve (CIC) were used to validate the nomogram model. Results:Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HCC patients with age ≤45 years old ( OR=6.704, 95% CI: 1.619-27.760, P=0.009), incomplete tumor capsule ( OR=13.292, 95% CI: 3.084-57.295, P=0.001), high total numbers of CTC ( OR=1.101, 95% CI: 1.023-1.186, P=0.011) and high Ki67 index ( OR=52.659, 95% CI: 3.215-862.604, P=0.005) had a high risk of hyper-progression recurrence after hepatectomy. The above three preoperative variables were integrated to construct a nomogram model. The calibration curve showed that the predicted results of the nomogram model were in good agreement with the actual results. The ROC curves of the nomogram model for predicting hyper-progression recurrence after hepatectomy in HCC patients were plotted, and the area under the curve was 0.907 (95% CI: 0.856-0.959) and 0.833 (95% CI: 0.721-0.945) in the modeling group and validation group, respectively. DCA showed that the nomogram model could be used as a valuable predictive tool for the hyper-progression recurrence after hepatectomy. The CIC showed that the population judged by the nomogram model was highly matched with the actual population with hyper-progression recurrence. Conclusions:This study established a nomogram model based on age, tumor capsular integrity and total CTC count, which could accurately predict the postoperative hyper-progression recurrence in HCC patients before hepatectomy. The model is promising in guiding clinical practice after further validation.

Heat shock protein 70(HSP70)is a highly conserved polypeptide protein,which plays an im-portant role in protein homeostasis,apoptosis,invasion and cell signaling transduction. Many studies have shown that the expression level of HSP70 is closely related to the development and progression of tumor,which is a low expression in normal tissues and the overexpression in tumor tissue. Hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) is con-cealed,and the related study reported that the expression of HSP70 can be used as a sensitive biological index for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis for early HCC,and also affects the treatment and prognosis of patients with HCC. This article will summary the relationship between the expression of HSP70 and HCC.

Objective: To investigate the impact of perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion on the early recurrence of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver resection. Methods: Retrospective analysis was made on 999 patients who underwent surgical resection for HCC, and these patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not received perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion. Differences between groups were balanced using propensity score matching (PSM). The Kaplan-Meier method was used for comparing the differences in early recurrence (within 2 years) between the two groups and the multivariate COX analysis regression was used to identify independent risk factors for early recurrence. Result: There were 100 patients in red cell transfusion group and 899 patients in non-red cell transfusion group. After PSM, 85 pairs of patients were successfully matched, and there was no significant difference in baseline data between groups. Before PSM, the early recurrence rate of the red blood cell group was significantly higher than that of the non-red blood cell group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in early recurrence rates between the two groups after PSM (P=0.346). Multivariate analysis showed that perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion was not an independent risk factor of early recurrence for patients with HCC after liver resection (P=0.153). Conclusion Perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion has no impact on the early recurrence of patients with HCC after liver resection.

At present,the function evaluation of health food containing Chinese materia medica is in lack of theoretical support of Chinese medicine,which can't reflect the function characteristics,dose-effect relationship and mechanism of functional food. What' s more,the evaluation technology of health food containing Chinese materia medica is relatively lagging behind and has been abolished now,which seriously restricts the development of health food containing Chinese materia medica industry. The proportion of health food containing Chinese materia medica with enhancing immune function is the highest among approved products,which is up to 30.33%. By collecting,analyzing and digging the current evaluation situation of enhancing immune function of health food containing Chinese materia medica,this paper has shown that there is no difference between health food containing Chinese materia medica evaluation and other functional food evaluation. What's more,there is a lack of characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). The technological means including evaluation of immune active substances is under-developed and the immune cell evaluation needs to be refined and improved urgently,restricting the development of health food containing Chinese materia medica industry. Therefore,the evaluation of the enhanced immune function of health food containing Chinese materia medica should be guided by health-preserving theory in TCM,and based on the identification of TCM constitution for its claim of health function. With TCM theory and modern scientific technological means,a new evaluation model for immune function enhancement of health food containing Chinese materia medica is put forward to distinguish it from other functional food and traditional medicines. Formulation of the evaluation technology and technical specifications suitable for health food containing Chinese materia medica can fundamentally ensure the healthy,orderly,fast and sustainable development of health food containing Chinese materia medica industry.
Functional Food ; Humans ; Immune System ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design ; Technology

The modernization and development of traditional Chinese medicine has led to higher standards for the quality of traditional Chinese medicine products. The extraction process is a crucial component of traditional Chinese medicine production, and it directly impacts the final quality of the product. However, the currently relied upon methods for quality assurance of the extraction process, such as simple wet chemical analysis, have several limitations, including time consumption and labor intensity, and do not offer precise control of the extraction process. As a result, there is significant value in incorporating near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the production process of traditional Chinese medicine to improve the quality control of the final products. In this study, we focused on the extraction process of Xiao'er Xiaoji Zhike oral liquid (XXZOL), using near-infrared spectra collected by both a Fourier transform near-infrared spectrometer and a portable near-infrared spectrometer. We used the concentration of synephrine, a quality control index component specified by the pharmacopoeia, to achieve rapid and accurate detection in the extraction process. Moreover, we developed a model transfer method to facilitate the transfer of models between the two types of near-infrared spectrometers (analytical grade and portable), thus resolving the low resolution, poor performance, and insufficient prediction accuracy issues of portable instruments. Our findings enable the rapid screening and quality analysis of XXZOL onsite, which is significant for quality monitoring during the traditional Chinese medicine production process.